Contenders in the race to be California's next governor will gather on stage Tuesday night for the second of three debates planned before the June 2 primary.
Last week's meeting in San Francisco didn't provide the fireworks and memorable moments that candidates and many voters were hoping for, but it did manage to remind us all that ballots will arrive in mailboxes in the coming days and that decisions must be made.
Ahead of the forum at Pomona College in Claremont, a trio of our Times columnists — Gustavo Arellano, Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria — weigh in with a cheat sheet on what to look for, what to expect and why it's important.
Chabria: I'll start with the obvious: Let's hope that on Tuesday we have at least one notable candidate who comes with some fire and vision.
After last week's debate, there was a lot of posturing on social media about who won and who trolled whom best. But as one of the six people who actually watched, I can tell you that it was mostly bland and without a clear winner.
This is largely because many of the Democrats have only minor differences between their policies, and the same goes for the two Republicans.
So my hope is that at least one candidate will up their game and reach voters not just with attacks, but with something that inspires them, something that sets them apart. At this point in the race, that hope is slim, but I will keep it alive.
What are your hopes and dreams (and maybe your fears) as you approach this?
Barabac: I know I sound like a broken record. (Google it, kids.) Anita, you and I, in particular, have gone back and forth on this topic. But I don't feel a particular need for inspiration from the guys and gals running for governor. If I want inspiration, I'll go back and re-read Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Or listen to a Grateful Dead show from May of '77.
Give me someone who can work with the Legislature, and as difficult as it may be, President Trump, to get things done.
Pursue a “California first” agenda, to borrow a phrase. Put voters and their interests ahead of ego, careerism and personal ambition. Start by pledging, if elected, to serve a full four-year term and not run for president while serving as governor.
Of course, that kind of promise can be broken. (See then-Governor Pete Wilson, who made that promise when he sought re-election in 1994, then turned around and unsuccessfully sought the White House in 1995.)
At least we would have them on record.
arellano: I am totally in favor of this swamp of democracy. A small part of me wants two Republicans to make it to the general election because the California Democratic Party deserves a meteor-like extinction. There hasn't been a statewide elected Republican official since Schwarzenegger. Supermajority in Sacramento for almost a decade.
And what do they have to prove about their one-party government? This.
But then I hear Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton meow, and I suddenly hope, along with Anita, that someone will defeat their enemies with impregnable vision. The problem is that I think all the candidates have reached their ceiling. The only one who has any chance of showing us something new is Xavier Becerra, who needs to drop his Dudley Do-Right gimmick for a second and channel the inner cholo we all know is in him.
Instead, he was at a fundraiser in Fullerton over the weekend with professional Latinos; You should have been kicking with my cousins in Anaheim who were watching their Dodgers slaughter the Cubs. locomotivebecause they are the ones who will make you or break you.
Chabria: How the first possible Latino governor fails to excite Latino voters is exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't give voters something to be excited about, they don't vote, and our fragile democracy needs all the voters it can get.
But if we are forced to vote on nuances, let's do so informed. Here are some questions I hope these candidates will have to answer:
For San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, funded by mega-millions from tech experts, it's not enough to promise to regulate artificial intelligence or billion-dollar influence. Tell us what those regulations look like and how you reconcile your own politics with those of big donors like Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, who has called Generation Z the “losing generation.”
To billionaire investor Tom Steyer, who has said he will reform Proposition 13 (which caps property taxes) for corporate landowners: What assurances do landowners have that they won't be next?
For former Rep. Katie Porter, third among Democrats in polls, the clock is ticking: Will there come a point where you'll abandon and endorse a fellow candidate if he fails to advance? The same goes for state schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who are included in this debate but are only in the single digits in the polls.
And I agree with you, Gustavo, Becerra seems decidedly bland, but to Mark's point, he's using that to position himself as drama-free and experienced. So, in an era where fraud and abuse are the words of the day, how does Becerra explain not detecting fraud in his own office?
Mark and Gustavo, what are the issues you expect the candidates to question?
arellano: Slight correction, Anita. California already had a Latino governor: Romualdo Pacheco, the lieutenant governor who replaced Newton Booth in 1875, when the latter became a United States senator. Pacheco: a Latino Republican! – served 10 months before becoming a member of Congress.
Come, Californians? Political musical chairs are as much a part of our state as spending oligarchs, but enough about Steyer.
Affairs? Immigration, of course. I want each of you to address the state's undocumented immigrants for 90 seconds on whatever topic you choose. Water: Whether we believe in climate change or not, our supply is shrinking faster than Thurmond's gubernatorial chances. And since I think the more random the question is, the more you learn about who a candidate really is: What is the best song about California and why? Anyone who says “California Girls” or “California Gurls” deserves disqualification, even if both songs are great.
Barabac: It's not a problem, per se. What I'd like to see is some backbone.
The next governor will have to make some difficult decisions, especially around spending priorities and/or cuts to the state budget. Inevitably, the next governor will make some people unhappy. And I'm not just talking about members of the opposite party or people who didn't vote for them.
So I would like each of them to name one issue where, for the good of the state, they are willing to confront their friends and allies, knowing that they will not be happy. If you're a Democrat, name something you would do that would, for example, upset unions. And for Republicans Bianco and Hilton, what is one area where they are willing to say to Trump, “Sir” (the president imagines everyone bowing and calling him sir), “you are dead wrong on this and California needs to go its own way, whether you like it or not.”
arellano: Good luck seeing any candidates challenge their teachers. I think we need to lower our expectations much, much, well, lower. So a simple question to conclude: Who needs to do more tonight besides Mahan's beard? I think it's my colleague from Orange County, Katie Porter. He is now to the right of Steyer and to the left of Becerra, which means he needs to take followers away from both and grab the undecided if he wants to advance. I'm not sure how she can pull it off, but if anyone can provide the necessary fire, it's her.
Chabria: Porter definitely has a lot riding on him.
A standout moment for her, Steyer or Becerra, good or bad, could tip this very indecisive race, not so much because people will be watching, but because it will fuel the social media and publicity that will surely follow. There is a lot at stake in these next two debates, not just to prevent a Biden performance, but to do something, anything, to build momentum.
Politics is not a poof, as the old saying goes, and it is time to warm it up. So, in the spirit of Gustavo's song request, I leave you with these lyrics from the Rivieras (or the Ramones, if you prefer): We are having fun under the warm California sun.
Barabac: I don't want to be the party pooper, but I think we should not exaggerate the importance of tonight's debate. For one thing, as Anita suggested, the audience will be extremely small, minuscule even relative to the state's 23 million registered voters.
We know from experience that most people will take down what you do based not on the debate itself, but rather on the coverage of it and whatever soundbites, memes, chatter, and advertisements it produces, and that's only to the extent that people are paying attention.
So, yes, what is said and done in Pomona will matter a little. But Election Day is still five weeks away, and I suspect many people will wait at least one or three more weeks to start focusing on the race and finally making a decision.
I'll end with something that Jerry García sang: All good things at all good times..
